150 years of history in Mears

By Sharon Hallack The Oceana Echo Community Correspondent

The idea of creating a timeline for the Village of Mears over the past 150 years came to The Oceana Echo from resident Jan Lathers. Her late husband, longtime Mears resident and local icon Dale Lathers, wrote a two-part series for the Mears Centennial in 1973 that included many of these dates. Additional dates were also gleaned from the Oceana County Historical and Genealogical Society’s collection of archival documents, as well as from many locals. Our apologies for other important dates that may have been omitted. In the interest of preserving Oceana’s rich history, please contact The Oceana Echo with any additional information so it can be included with this compilation of history.

1776: The United States becomes an independent nation.

1796: The United States acquires Michigan from England.

1837: Michigan becomes a state.

1853: Charles Mears (lumberman, developer, storekeeper, hotel owner, investor, and real estate salesman) arrives in the area.

1855: Oceana County organizes.

1856–1868: Silver Lake was commonly known as Au Sable Lake.

1864: Golden Township is organized. Early resident William Haughey originally named the township after his mother, “Golding”. Due to a transcrip- tion error, the township was recorded as “Golden”. The first school district was formed at Mears some nine years before the town was fully established.

1869: A prevalence of wolves was reported in the township. The township board offered a bounty of $10.00 per full-grown wolf killed.

1872: Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Road reaches the area. The Montague, Pentwater, and Manistee Railroad begins making stops in Mears on its way to Pentwater. The railroad’s name is soon changed to the Chicago & West Michigan, then the Pere Marquette, to become part of the Chesapeake & Ohio, or “Chessie” system.

1872: Charles Mears builds a sawmill at the mouth of the outlet, which he calls Silver Creek; later, the creek would become Silver Lake.

1872: Benjamin Moore, of Hart, builds the first sawmill in the village. As late as 1890, it was still standing. In 1934, one could still see the various excavations on the land. Most sawmills were built near a stream that emptied into Lake Michigan. Mears was the exception because of the railroad extension from Muskegon to Pentwater.

1873: The Village of Mears is “born”. Charles Mears and Samuel Odell bought land for the site from Hart physician Dr. McPherson and had it platted. The plat was recorded and signed by T. S. Gurney, Register of Deeds, at the Oceana County Courthouse on January 22, 1873. Some streets in Mears today bear the names McPherson (the former owner of the village property), Morrison (the general manager of the railroad), and Joy (another railroad official).

1873: The Little Point Sable lighthouse is built with James Davenport as its first lightkeeper.

1873: Mears and Odell petition the county board to have the county seat moved to Mears. The two offer an already-constructed brick building complete with separate rooms and a vault. They also offer a land option and $10,000 in cash if the board wants to build their own courthouse. Their main argument was that the railroad might not come to Hart for many years. Of the 16 supervisors who voted on the proposal, only one voted for it, and he was from Golden.

1874: A blacksmith shop is located where the former Golden Township Hall sits. A log church located in the village burns down and is rebuilt by Mr. Mears and others. The Reverend James A. Draper was the pastor at the time. The first school building was built in the village. Mears went on to build three two-story buildings, one complete with dry goods, groceries, drugs, feed, and farm supplies.

1874: Charles Mears, age 59, marries Miss Carrie A. Middleton, age 23, at his “White House”, near his mill on Silver Lake.

Late 1870s: Swedish immigrants begin to arrive in Mears. Family names include Anderson, Haggquist, Johnson, Peterson, Thorson, Jonson, Hallberg, Jenson, Carlson, Linn, Krantz, Ling, and Pearson.

1877: Lumbering becomes important to the area; Three sawmills, a bowl factory, a broom handle factory, a shingle mill, and a clapboard mill are reportedly in existence. Fruit, lumber, shingles, wheat, and potatoes were the main commodities being shipped from Mears via the railroad.

1879: Ten 75-cord coal kilns are built on the north side of Mears for the production of charcoal for the